Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide has received an early Christmas present.
The Hilton/Starwood corporate espionage case has been settled out of court, HotelNewsNow.com’s Shawn A. Turner reports.
A 13-page filing Wednesday in United States District Court in New York ended the court battle that began in April 2009 when Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide accused top executives at Hilton Worldwide—including former Starwood executives Ross Klein and Amar Lalvani—of stealing Starwood’s plans for a lifestyle brand intended to launch at its W properties, “The Zen Den.” Hilton eventually unveiled its own brand, which it dubbed “Denizen.”
The U.S. hotel industry posted increases in the three key performance measurements during the week of 12-18 December 2010, according to STR.
In year-over-year measurements, the industry’s occupancy rose 9.4% to 46.5%, average daily rate increased 4.1% to US$91.66, and revenue per available room went up 14% to US$42.61.
• Read “STR: US performance for week ending 18 Dec.”
The Canadian hotel industry reported positive results in the three key performance metrics for the week of 12-18 December 2010, according to STR.
In year-over-year measurements, the Canadian hotel industry’s occupancy was up 10.7% to 46.6%, ADR increased 2% to CAD115.23 (US$114.17), and RevPAR rose 12.9% to CAD53.66 (US$53.17.)
• Read “STR: Canada performance for week ending 18 Dec.”
Group business continued to strengthen during November. The latest North American perspective from Rubicon reveals that group commitments for the next 12 months are up 5.8% year-over-year. Group pace, or new group sales compared to the previous month, remains strong as well, with a 15.5% jump over the comparable period last year.
Both transient and business demand are progressing strongly. Transient demand is ahead 7.4% versus the same time last year, while business demand (measured by the transient weekday retail and negotiated segments) is up 13.4% year-over-year.
ADR advanced slightly during November, ticking upward 0.2% compared to last year. Transient ADR is ahead by 1.9% while group ADR is behind by 3.3% year-over-year.
Svenska Hospitality Pvt Ltd, which recently launched its first hotel, the Svenska Mumbai, plans to develop 20 properties with a total of 1,000 rooms in India during the next 10 years, according to Hospitality Biz India.The approximate investment for the 20 projects is INR 1,000 crore (US$221.4 million).
In the week ending 18 December, the U.S. advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial unemployment claims was 420,000, a decrease of 3,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 423,000. The 4-week moving average was 426,000, an increase of 2,500 from the previous week's revised average of 423,500.
The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 3.2% for the week ending 11 December, a decrease of 0.1 percentage point from the prior week's unrevised rate of 3.3%.
Compiled by Patrick Mayock and Stacey Higgins.
